Ted & the no.17 bus

Meet Ted, he is the driver of the no. 17 bus. He's a quiet yet friendly chap. He dreams of retiring and working on his allotment all day. He reads seed catalogues in his break and makes plans for entering his peas into the regional vegetable competition.

Size - 20cm height, width 15cm, depth 11cm

Ted is a papier mâché bird character. His clothes and accessories are made from found materials such as vintage silk handkerchiefs, scraps of tweed, leather, old buttons & even an abandoned sock. Can you work out what his beak and claws are made from?* 

Ted's leather bag contains miniature vintage style seed packets

The surface of his head and hands is decorated with extracts of a letter sent to me by my grandad that I have then printed onto tissue paper. I chose to do this as ‘Ted’ is loosely based on my grandad in terms of his dress sense and keen gardening interests. I have mentioned in a previous post that he has written to me every week since I went to university and I have decided to begin to capture our personal history in my art work. 

Grandad tends to his garden almost every day

*If you haven’t guessed yet, Ted’s beak and claws are made from acrylic nails that I have cut and shaped!

Ted's cap is made from scraps of tweed and linen. I loved making it!

Washi tape came in very handy when making the paper pattern for his shirt 

 

Here's 'Ted' in his posh greenhouse Unit Twelve. He's being very well looked after in the Contemporary Craft Open. If you'd like to meet Ted, the exhibition runs from 5th Dec 2013 to 1st March 2014. It is well worth a visit as it showcases the best in contemporary craft, both amateur and professional. Work has been selected by Little Northern Contemporary Craft Fairs, Yellowstone Art Boutique and Print Garage.

Off to Market

On Sunday 15th September I hired my first ever stall at Altrincham Vintage, Handmade & Producers' Market. It was a cold, wet and blustery day although the heavy rain held off until the afternoon.

In all honesty, having a market stall was completely out of my comfort zone. The thought of it made me feel exposed and vulnerable (whereas 30 hormonal teenagers in a classroom doesn’t – strange!). However, I knew that it was important to reach a wider audience and so with trepidation I set off with my creations packed into my little car.

My work can also be found on Etsy, Folksy & What I Always Wanted

Once I was at the market and had my stall set up, I started to relax and found that I was actually enjoying myself. It was really good fun and I had a great time. I loved the friendliness of the other stall holders and appreciated their advice. I also enjoyed chatting with people visiting the market and talking about my work.

1. Ox Eye Daisy 2. Lanna Yo 3. Goodnight Boutique 4. Flour Water Salt 5. Beagle N Thread      6. For England & St George 7 Philippa Lightburn 8. Parrot in the Pantry

Things I learnt:

1. I am not a good business woman as I spent all my takings on other stalls. Although, this is a good thing for the local economy! There is a lot of fantastic talent out there in my local community.

2. I need more height in future stall displays so that the eye is led across the various items, plus objects at different heights make the stall look more attractive.

3. Upcycled items are very popular, as are small items. People seem to enjoy rummaging through boxes and baskets for treasure.

4. People were browsing for Christmas and lots of business cards were taken with this in mind.

5. In future, I would like to have a greater variety of products on sale that show a wider range of my skills. I did not have any ceramic items or illustrations on sale. However, I can’t be too hard on myself as there’s only so much time to produce art when I have a full time job!

All in all, it was great fun and I thoroughly recommend selling at a market or fair.